are seo tools worth it – Surely the results of Google also drive you crazy, if I appear one higher, if one lower, if now I am on the second page, now what do I do to appear again on the first and a long etcetera. And yes, this SEO (or Google positioning) thing is not easy, but even more, it is really impossible if you do not have the necessary SEO tools .
If web positioning has something good compared to traditional media, it is that absolutely everything can be measured. All the information you can collect on the Internet is your most valuable treasure and you must take good care of it. But how to get this information? With the necessary SEO tools. There are an endless number of them: for general analysis, for more specific analysis, for measurement and for everything. And yes, many of them are free.
Here is a list of about of the most important from our point of view. We will start with Google, since it is he who has the power.
1. Google Search Console
Of all the SEO tools you can consider, never discard this one. It is absolutely essential and, unfortunately, it is the only way to communicate with Google for SEO issues. It shows very relevant information about the current situation of your website and the possible mistakes that you may be making in your on-page or internal SEO. Some of the information you can get is related to how Google reads (crawls) your website, how it shows you in its results, and what terms you are appearing for. It is, therefore, a tool that is also very useful for updating your keyword study , since you can obtain information on how users have reached your website before.
Also, within Webmaster Tools (or Search Console for the modern ones), you can find “mini-tools” that you can only get here, such as the disavow tool (to disavow external links), the structured data markup assistant or the elimination of urls.
Come on, what a gem!
2. Google Analytics
One of the SEO measurement tools par excellence . To tell you all the information that you can obtain from Google Analytics, we would not need another post, but rather an entire book. The possibilities offered by this tool are endless if you know how to use it. Sometimes people use Analytics just to measure how many visits come to their website and through which channels, that’s fine, but really the potential of the tool is immensely greater. Playing with filters and segments will allow you to analyze each of the movements that users make on your website. And believe me, this will help you make very important decisions.
Many people dedicated to SEO forget how important it is to measure, what is the use of making decisions if you do not know how they are working? Remember, set objectives in your strategy, but also configure them in Analytics to be able to measure them later.
3. Google Trends
Some will think that this is not one of the most useful SEO tools. Personally, I do consider it important, mainly for two SEO aspects: content (the King) and keywords .. It is a tool (of course free) that analyzes search trends in Google, both current and previous years. And you will think that this is useless, but if you are interested in positioning yourself… What better than using the keywords that people search for the most? I will give you an example, if tomorrow (God forbid) there is an earthquake in Madrid, thousands of people will search for information about “earthquake in Madrid”, therefore this word will become a trend. Wouldn’t it be the right time to write about it on your blog? You have already created a fleeting content strategy.
On the other hand, if you are doing a keyword study for your website or you need to update the one you have, this tool will undoubtedly help you. You can filter the searches by countries, dates, popularity, frequency, etc. If you know how to use it, I assure you that you will be able to get a lot of practice out of it.
4. Google Adwords Planner
Another of the essential Google SEO tools. Even if you don’t campaign on Google Adwords, my recommendation is that you create an account just so you can access the keyword planner . Without a doubt, it is the star tool for a good study of keywords. Google gives you nice (and we assume true) information about how many searches a word has, what level of competition or what related words can serve you. It’s not for nothing, but no one knows better than Google, so I would pay attention to it.
As personal advice, never give up on your keywords, check the planner from time to time and check that the search volume has not changed substantially, you know, the trends are random!
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5. Semrush
We start with the non-Google SEO tools. Semrush is one of the fundamental tools for competitive analysis. And yes, you should spy on your competition from time to time to find out what’s going on in the market. It provides information on external links ( backlinks ), but the pearl of this tool is the information it provides on keywords. Analyze keyword positions, their variations, positioned urls, volume of traffic they provide, etc. And the best? That analyzes it both for your website and for all the domains you want.
They offer a somewhat limited free version, but the paid version is really worth it (and even more so if you have Google Adwords campaigns).
6. Open Site Explorer (MOZ)
It is a basic SEO tool for your backlink strategy (SEO off page). Calculate the famous PA (Page Authority) and DA (Domain Authority) indicators, very useful to know how green your website is in popularity. It can be one of the most useful SEO tools when it comes to links. In my opinion, the information it provides is better than any other tool; but as a disadvantage it must be said that the free version has many limitations. It is worth buying it!
7. Ahrefs
This tool is also useful for your backlink strategy. Honestly, nothing to do compared to the previous one; but it is true that if you cannot afford to buy the paid version of Open Site Explorer, Ahrefs will undoubtedly be of great help to you. Provides information about external and internal links, what type they are, what value they have according to their ranking, etc.
8. Pro Rank Tracker
It is quite basic, but very useful to measure the evolution and keep track of your keywords . The best thing about this tool is that it automatically sends daily reports with all the information on your keywords. The bad thing, as always, is that the free version has quite a few limitations. It allows you a maximum of 20 keywords and, perhaps, in this case, it is not worth investing in the paid one if you have already done it in Semrush.
9. Link Detox
This will only be useful in some cases, especially when you have done a “crappy” SEO or when you have been penalized for some Google algorithm update. The tool analyzes all your external links (depending on how many you have, the more expensive it is) and classifies them as more or less toxic. Trust me, you probably have more toxic links than you think.
But I only recommend using this tool if you have too many, especially since its price is not entirely affordable.